Sunday, October 20, 2013
GOODBYE ELDER BUSTOS
March 25, 2013
Hey everybody, well on Monday we had a last P-day with Bustos. We played soccer and Bustos and I went to get his souvenirs. Tuesday we had almost the only full day of work. We were visiting our families with baptismal dates. Wednesday we went to Tarapoto for a training in which we learned a lot about the Holy Ghost and the importance of him in our lives and especially with the investigators. Then came Friday, o man was the wedding so sweet! It started at seven, but in Peru everyone is a hour late, so we started at eight. So you can imagine how it was, but it was great, very stressful, but great. After we baptized the three couples and it was a real white out party. Christian and Celia were so very happy. It is so great to see people make changes in their lives for the good and to see them receive the blessings of the gospel. It is amazing to see the branches helping us focus on the families and actually accomplishing the goals we have as branches, as a zone, and as a mission. On Saturday we then had the opportunity to baptize two kids Ney and Gelen (Helen). It was also a very hectic day then visiting all of the members and converts here in Belen. Sunday we woke up and went to sacrament meeting then we got his bags and I sent him away to Tarapoto for his flight to Lima. I thought it would be harder to say goodbye, but you all know I’m good with goodbyes. So it wasn't that hard. I am with Nils now until later today when I'll be with the leaders until my companion get here, but I might get changed too. So let’s see. Hope not ha-ha, but more than likely I'll be here until May. My companion will get here on Tuesday. I am more nervous about having to get to know someone else as my companion. Six months is a very long time, but I am exited to get started. Nils is the sickest in lessons, the kid is so close to the spirit, he is a better missionary than I am. I sure hope he gets out on the mission before I’m back in Utah. My patriarchal blessing said I would help many missionaries succeed in their missionary callings. The lord prepares people. I loved my time with Elder Bustos and I know he will do a lot of good work at his house as well. I love you all. Pray I don’t get changed ya.
WEDDING PLANNER!
March 18, 2013
Well everybody we went to Tioyacu again as a zone. It was great, we all brought our own meat to grill. As you know Elder Busto and I both love to cook and more than that we like to show off. So we knew that no one would prepare anything so we did. We went to the market and bought meat, cilantro, oregano, pineapple, lemons, rocoto, onions, salt, and a coke. And I show Bustos how to make a bag marinade. So we decided to make shish kabobs. I got a plastic bag that mom sent me with and we put all of it in. The family that lives beneath us were astonished at the simplicity of American BBQ. As I poured the coke in they almost had a heart attack. Then we went to Tioyacu and the meat was marinating for a good 3 hours in that giant bag. Man was the whole zone jealous when Bustos and I made our 10 pineapple, onion, sirloin kabobs. And of course after I let the other elders use our left over juice. Man were our Kabobs tasty!
Anyways, we baptized Hugo and that was fun. We had a bit of a mix up due to the fact that no one told us about the relief society anniversary that took place during the baptism. The service was pretty quiet ha-ha. But nonetheless it was good. It seems like you and Bree might think that you are wedding stressed, but I think I might be winning right now! The second wedding is coming up this Friday and man will it be sweet. There will be three couples wed and baptized that same Friday night. I’m real pumped. Also it seems that with all of the weddings we are doing everyone and their dog is coming out to get married. Yesterday a recent convert from Tarapoto showed up with his wife, who he has two kids with. As he explained to us how they were separated when he was baptized, but now that she has seen the changes in him she as well wants to get baptized. So you know what that means!!! Another wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also we found two new families this week that are neighbors that we can also marry in April. So I think its time to change my career path and jump on the wedding boat with the Breeze. But ya nonetheless the ward is slowly getting full of young couples which is exactly what every ward needs!! Well my companion will be dead in less than ten days, but hey he is going out with a bang this week. We should have 4 baptisms and he will be on a plane an hour after the baptism of the twins Saturday afternoon. And I will be with Nils until my new comp comes. It will be weird having a new companion after six months with Bustos. But the lord will send me someone able to take over this area. I love you all. Happy birthday mother I hope your day was very special. I love you all.
Anyways, we baptized Hugo and that was fun. We had a bit of a mix up due to the fact that no one told us about the relief society anniversary that took place during the baptism. The service was pretty quiet ha-ha. But nonetheless it was good. It seems like you and Bree might think that you are wedding stressed, but I think I might be winning right now! The second wedding is coming up this Friday and man will it be sweet. There will be three couples wed and baptized that same Friday night. I’m real pumped. Also it seems that with all of the weddings we are doing everyone and their dog is coming out to get married. Yesterday a recent convert from Tarapoto showed up with his wife, who he has two kids with. As he explained to us how they were separated when he was baptized, but now that she has seen the changes in him she as well wants to get baptized. So you know what that means!!! Another wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also we found two new families this week that are neighbors that we can also marry in April. So I think its time to change my career path and jump on the wedding boat with the Breeze. But ya nonetheless the ward is slowly getting full of young couples which is exactly what every ward needs!! Well my companion will be dead in less than ten days, but hey he is going out with a bang this week. We should have 4 baptisms and he will be on a plane an hour after the baptism of the twins Saturday afternoon. And I will be with Nils until my new comp comes. It will be weird having a new companion after six months with Bustos. But the lord will send me someone able to take over this area. I love you all. Happy birthday mother I hope your day was very special. I love you all.
Monday, September 16, 2013
POR SUS FRUTOS CONOCEREIS
March 11, 2013
Hey everybody. So this week we started off with a good old game of volleyball in the rain. Then we ate ice-cream because we are sick! Also Hermana Blanca is the sickest at buying fruit, she bought us all of the fruit in that picture for 10 soles .(4 American dollars). So that’s pretty chill. This week we have had a few trails, the family we are going to marry and baptize have had a few couple issues and it seems like this week we have been playing Dr.Phil. and Judge Judy more than being missionaries. But all is well. The gospel solves all problems. So Christian and Celia will still be getting married here in a few weeks and we will accomplish 8/4/2. 8/4/2 is the monthly mission goal for a companionship it is 8 families in teaching, 4 baptisms in the month and 2 families baptized in that month. With Delicia confirmed on the 3rd of March we have 1 baptism with 1 family because her husband is a member. We will baptize Hugo Becerra this Saturday which will be the second baptism. Then with Christina and Celia baptized that will be 2 more baptisms and also a family due to the fact that they will be wed right before the baptism. Also we have 2 twins that were going to get baptized this week but were not able to come to church so they will most likely be baptized at the end of the month if not the beginning of April. So the branch of Belen will get its first 8/4/2 in history! And they can continue to progress and strengthen as a branch. The goal of the mission is to baptize families. The Peru Lima north mission baptizes the most families in all of South America and maybe the world. That’s all we focus on due to the fact that the family is so very important in the plan of our Heavenly Father. So yea we had a ward mission night where we taught how to share the gospel with the missionary lessons and then we practiced. I was surprised how well Nils contacted me, I wanted to get baptized all over again ha-ha. Then as Elder Bustos and I gave our talks in the sacrament meeting I really realized that this branch has gotten so strong over these past few months and I hope that they will continue with the excitement for the work.
I love you all
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Hey everybody. So this week we started off with a good old game of volleyball in the rain. Then we ate ice-cream because we are sick! Also Hermana Blanca is the sickest at buying fruit, she bought us all of the fruit in that picture for 10 soles .(4 American dollars). So that’s pretty chill. This week we have had a few trails, the family we are going to marry and baptize have had a few couple issues and it seems like this week we have been playing Dr.Phil. and Judge Judy more than being missionaries. But all is well. The gospel solves all problems. So Christian and Celia will still be getting married here in a few weeks and we will accomplish 8/4/2. 8/4/2 is the monthly mission goal for a companionship it is 8 families in teaching, 4 baptisms in the month and 2 families baptized in that month. With Delicia confirmed on the 3rd of March we have 1 baptism with 1 family because her husband is a member. We will baptize Hugo Becerra this Saturday which will be the second baptism. Then with Christina and Celia baptized that will be 2 more baptisms and also a family due to the fact that they will be wed right before the baptism. Also we have 2 twins that were going to get baptized this week but were not able to come to church so they will most likely be baptized at the end of the month if not the beginning of April. So the branch of Belen will get its first 8/4/2 in history! And they can continue to progress and strengthen as a branch. The goal of the mission is to baptize families. The Peru Lima north mission baptizes the most families in all of South America and maybe the world. That’s all we focus on due to the fact that the family is so very important in the plan of our Heavenly Father. So yea we had a ward mission night where we taught how to share the gospel with the missionary lessons and then we practiced. I was surprised how well Nils contacted me, I wanted to get baptized all over again ha-ha. Then as Elder Bustos and I gave our talks in the sacrament meeting I really realized that this branch has gotten so strong over these past few months and I hope that they will continue with the excitement for the work.
I love you all
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HUMP DAY
March 4, 2013
Hey everybody. Well I am now over the hill, the one year mark has now been accomplished. Won’t be too long now ha-ha. Whatever I still have like 8 changes left. Well my companion is real trunky, but a good trunky because we have 7, yes 7 baptismal dates for March and with 2 families one of which is already in the water. So we are going to be the first missionaries to complete 8/4/2 in the area of Belen in Moyobamba. My companion has been taking his post down everyday ha-ha he has got a whooping 22 days left. We´re making the best of it. To be completely honest nothing really happened this week we just worked our buns off like crazy. Sacando fechas. I burned my shirt on the year mark and the lady downstairs made me a double cheeseburger so that’s like all the excitement. I can’t really remember what happened it’s all just a blur. But we did have 7 investigators in the chapel with 3 families so "todo esta bien". I sure hope that Bree's birthday was a special day for everyone at home. Congrats on the temple yea! You only got one more covenant to make then you're set ha-ha. Then it's pure endurance until exhalation. Whelp yea I kind of don’t have much to say so ill talk to you guys later.
Hey everybody. Well I am now over the hill, the one year mark has now been accomplished. Won’t be too long now ha-ha. Whatever I still have like 8 changes left. Well my companion is real trunky, but a good trunky because we have 7, yes 7 baptismal dates for March and with 2 families one of which is already in the water. So we are going to be the first missionaries to complete 8/4/2 in the area of Belen in Moyobamba. My companion has been taking his post down everyday ha-ha he has got a whooping 22 days left. We´re making the best of it. To be completely honest nothing really happened this week we just worked our buns off like crazy. Sacando fechas. I burned my shirt on the year mark and the lady downstairs made me a double cheeseburger so that’s like all the excitement. I can’t really remember what happened it’s all just a blur. But we did have 7 investigators in the chapel with 3 families so "todo esta bien". I sure hope that Bree's birthday was a special day for everyone at home. Congrats on the temple yea! You only got one more covenant to make then you're set ha-ha. Then it's pure endurance until exhalation. Whelp yea I kind of don’t have much to say so ill talk to you guys later.
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| Belen Area |
TRAINING WITH PRESIDENT BLUNCK
Well everybody this week we climbed a huge mountain on Monday. I couldn't send you a picture because there was not enough space to send 4 pictures. But it is like a super huge mountain called El Morro Del Calzada. It’s in a lot of the pictures I send home. So we went to climb it and it’s a pretty gnarly hike even for some Utah kids and to make things worse half way up it began to rain and if you can imagine a jungle mountain in the rain that’s what it was just covered in slippery mud. It was hectic, but we all made it safely to the top and then came down. A few kids tripped including me on the way down which was a lot more dangerous, but we got to the easier part of the trail and we just started to Indian run down the mountain like Nephite warriors. In the jungle and the mud it was nuts and was a fun day. I think a few of us got sick, but it was worth it.
Well the president showed up on Thursday with the assistants for a training we were going to have as a zone on Friday and because of the new success and excitement in the restored area of Belen he wanted to go out and serve with us. So President Blunck, Bustos and I went out to teach three families and let’s just say it’s a lot easier to teach when your boss is sitting next to you. Because if you mess up in that lesson… fuiste ha-ha. But everything went well and he commented on how we have really changed this branch and that he is happy with how we are really focusing on families. So we had the training and learned a lot of really important things. So that was real nice.
The wedding was nuts so many things were going wrong, one of the couples from the other area didn't show up and the guy who married the couples was like 2 hours late. So we had everyone waiting patiently in the chapel with all the decorations ready while the missionaries were outside pulling the hairs that they hadn't lost yet out of the heads. But nonetheless he showed up and they were married and all was fine. But I have learned that if you want something done do it yourself, because nothing goes as you planned. For the length of the ceremony and the plans that the families had we decided that we would baptize Delicia on Sunday afternoon. So Sunday we wake up. The assistants have been with us for 4 days they will be in the sacrament meeting with us. And President Blunck will be in the sacrament meeting as well. And we left early to pick up Angel, Delica, and their baby. We got at their house at 8:30 and man did they take their sweet time ha-ha. We were waiting for an hour to get out of the house to go to church and we ended up getting there and missing the sacrament and walking in front of President with that look on his face, o-geez. I felt silly, but I think he realized we were late because of picking up investigators, but nonetheless it was an awkward situation. Also Nils blessed the sacrament on Sunday and everyone said he did a great job. And we had over 110 at the sacrament meeting. Everything is getting better every week. We then had the baptism at 5 and other than just baptizing Delicia we had the opportunity to baptize a daughter of a member who just turned 8 years old. Delica after the baptism expressed her feelings towards her baptism as a complete change of her life. I could only think of a letter my dad wrote me about trials in the mission and at one point someone will tell you that you changed their life and every trial and difficulty will be worth it. It was very emotional. Then Margot got up to give her testimony and being that she is 8 and a little nervous she got up and didn't say anything, We asked her to say how she felt. After a pause she said. “I felt like I was drowning.” The whole room was laughing hysterically as was Margot, it was great. The work is going very well here with the help of the members.
As we were setting up for the wedding President Blunck told us of the mission split so when he leaves he will do the last changes and those that are in the zones in the jungle will be in Mission Iquitos and those in Lima ll be Lima North. That will happen in two changes after this change so we will see where I go. The new president in Lima is North American and the one in Iquitos is Latin, but it will be difficult either way. I am exited to see what happens I just hope my buddies are in the same mission with me.
Well I'm really sorry but these computers here are horrible and not a single picture sent. So I will try to send them next Monday. I'm really sorry.
The photos in this post are from President Blunck's blog.
Sy sent these the following week.
Sy sent these the following week.
CHANGES - BUT NOT FOR SY
February 18, 2013
Well everyone we had changes this week and let's just say that there are a lot less gringos in the zone of Moyobamba of the 4 of us 2 of us got changed.. and it wasn't me. But my two best buddies are now in Lima. Elder Brown is district leader in Weisse and Elder Anderson is zone leader with his trainer in Independencia. It’s sweet because now my entire group are in leadership positions. Well not me ha-ha, but I don’t care, junior companion is easier anyways. Yes President is keeping Bustos and me together so we will have 6 months as companions and I will have the privilege of being his last companion in the mission before he goes back to Chile. I am very excited for this so we can see these families get married and we can get some more baptisms. I am excited to finally kill a missionary as they say in the mission and I am grateful it is Elder Bustos being that we have had so much time together as companions. But for this same reason I am guaranteed to be in Moyo until May, so I will follow the trend of the gringos in this area and have my nine months. Like the 4 white elders before me. I am very excited for that. I do love this area, it is such a tough zone and an even tougher area but that’s why I like it. Because its not super easy to baptize I know that my teaching is getting better. I know I was called before this life to be here in Moyobamba and I want to leave this area the best it has ever been.
This week was full of trials, It seemed that after that great week of miracles this week was full of trials, but we will stay humble and trust the Lord in order to receive those promised blessings of the Lord. We will have a wedding this week, a couple that we are baptizing, a couple from the other zone, and then a member family from our branch. It will be sweet because President Blunck will be there so that will be a nice day. Anyways not much is happening I’m just chilling in a zone of Latin’s on the other side of the world. O yea over 30 missionaries came in this change and 30 more are coming in the next change. It's gonna be full of snot-nosed brats. Ha-ha also I will be completing a year here soon so I was thinking if Bree, Bain, Jenn, and whoever else wants to, should go to DI, Savers, and the vintage stores up in Salt Lake and send me some sweet circa 1960 ties for my year that would be hilarious. All of the Latin elders hate the ugly ties, but the investigators love them. Its an easy way to get people laughing and I think you guys would have a hoot as well. Anyways just an idea. Love you all. I'll send you some wedding fotos soon.
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Sunday, July 28, 2013
MIRACLES
Hey family, well I would like to encourage everyone to read Moroni 7. God does not cease to work in miracles or he would cease to be God, if we have faith in Him we have the power to do all things. God uses many ways to bless us daily and they are all miracles. The influence and the ability we have to recognize and receive more miracles are through our obedience. If there are no miracles there is no faith. But what is the difference in asking for miracles and expecting miracles, if we continue in the same chapter we will find out. It speaks of faith and hope. I testify that faith is the belief and trust in the Lord that through our obedience and good works we will be blessed abundantly, because He is obligated to bless us when we are obedient. That is the asking for miracles. The hope is the same belief in the Lord and trust in Him that we will receive those blessings., The hope is an act of patience in expecting the miracles knowing they will come in the timetable of the Lord. It was a great inspiration that my father asked me to study this specific topic this week as this week was full of miracles.
Angel and Delicia are getting married. She has had a complete change of heart and wants to complete the commandments in order to receive the promised blessings of the Lord. We are preparing her to be married in 2 weeks along with her baptism. And Angel’s cousin wants to get married and baptized with his girl as they have seen the change in Angel and Delica. We met them on Friday and they told us they want to get married and baptized. So we have two families to get in the water. We planned on baptizing Brayan and Pablo on Saturday, but due to a few situations we only baptized 3! Yes, Nils showed up right before Pablo’s baptism and had made the decision to be baptized as well. O how my soul was filled with the love of the Lord. Knowing that finally through six months of teaching him all of the baptismal dates he rejected the Lord blessed us through the fasting and the praying from the past months I know the Lord has His hand here in this area. And yesterday we had an attendance of 90 which is the highest in years. The branch has completely changed and I know that the Lord is keeping his promise to me by blessing this branch through the fasting, prayer, obedience and diligence of my companion and I. I am so grateful for the great miracles and the little miracles that happen every day. This whole week has gone by without a hitch we receive references daily. We don’t have time to contact it’s awesome. I’m so grateful for the inspiration of my father to steer me in the right direction in my studies. I am on the threshold of reaching the year mark. I have 14 baptisms as of this point and have made a goal to triple that number this next year. I don’t know if God can try me much harder, because it always works out in the end. If I get changed today I will be fine knowing that this area is better than it was. Always remember God doesn't change He cannot. Miracles happen daily if we are humble enough to recognize them. Our spiritual outlook will increase greatly and our faith will grow until we are filled with the pure love of Christ which is charity and if we endure to the end with that same positivity and knowledge we will live with our families and God for all eternity in celestial glory. I love you all this is the Lord's work. Read your scriptures.
Nils is in between Elder Bustos and me and Pablo is to my left. Brayan was baptized earlier that day, but the pictures are loading real slow so I doubt i'll be able to get it to ya.
BUSY WEEK
February 4, 2013
Hey fam
Well we have two baptismal dates for the ninth they are both investigators that we have been teaching for a short time, but unlike our other investigators they are completing their commitments. So that means that Nils and the Salazar family have yet to accept a date which makes me sad, but we will see what happens. Also we have planned a wedding on the twenty-third so hopefully I will be around to see that. This week to be honest was very normal just working nothing extraordinary happened, but we are just putting our shoulders to the wheel. We went to Yantaló again this Saturday, but with all the missionaries and we found a lot of great people. That area will be sweet one day, I just hope that when we go back we can teach the people in a way that they will have the faith to come to church. Sorry I don’t have much to say, but the week just went by so fast that I don’t remember much of it. Oh don’t tell anyone I climbed a tree to pick fruit on Wednesday for service I don’t think I’m supposed to do that. Well any who i'll have some sweet baptismal pictures next week. Peace
I'm really sorry my lame Bolivian zone leader is telling us to get off so I can't send pictures so I'm sorry again about that.
Hey fam
Well we have two baptismal dates for the ninth they are both investigators that we have been teaching for a short time, but unlike our other investigators they are completing their commitments. So that means that Nils and the Salazar family have yet to accept a date which makes me sad, but we will see what happens. Also we have planned a wedding on the twenty-third so hopefully I will be around to see that. This week to be honest was very normal just working nothing extraordinary happened, but we are just putting our shoulders to the wheel. We went to Yantaló again this Saturday, but with all the missionaries and we found a lot of great people. That area will be sweet one day, I just hope that when we go back we can teach the people in a way that they will have the faith to come to church. Sorry I don’t have much to say, but the week just went by so fast that I don’t remember much of it. Oh don’t tell anyone I climbed a tree to pick fruit on Wednesday for service I don’t think I’m supposed to do that. Well any who i'll have some sweet baptismal pictures next week. Peace
I'm really sorry my lame Bolivian zone leader is telling us to get off so I can't send pictures so I'm sorry again about that.
WHEN IN DOUBT OPEN NEW AREA
January 28, 2013
So this week we started off playing soccer as a zone and then buying breakfast food. Elder Vander Merwe and I made tons of different breakfast foods. We even made biscuits and gravy and o geeze was it tasty. This week we taught a lot of lessons and got a lot of stuff done. We are putting together a branch mission plan so we can better train the members to share their testimonies so that they will be able to give us more references, And so that those references will have friends that are members of the branch. Its something I did in my old area in Lima and worked well after a little bit of time. So we are exited to see if it will work well here. Also we are starting to open up a new area about ten kilometers from the edge of our area so we have planned to go this weekend with all the elders of the zone and a few of the members in order to help this area get opened that we might be able to get some new members in the seats. The elders from the other branch had a baptism this last week. We brought Nils to the baptism and he seemed to really enjoy it. We haven’t had time to visit him this week with his schedule, but we are hoping that he has made a decision and that we can get him wet. We have two baptismal dates for the ninth of February. One is a 12 year old boy whose name is Brayan. His stepfather doesn't want anything to do with the church and his mother came with him to church yesterday, but they are not married so that will be an obstacle for them so we will baptize the son and see what happens. Also we are going to baptize Pablo who is 19, and who is a son of a sister in the branch who lives in the other branch, but who comes to our branch who I started teaching with Elder Castro 6 months ago. I gave the reference to the other elders who then gave it back because he wants to attend our branch. So he will most likely get baptized as well. The Salazar family only needs to accept a date and they can get wet too. We taught the Suarez family the plan of salvation with only scriptures being that William is a judge and also a lawyer he likes to know the facts. So we explained to him why we need to read a bible that is translated correctly and we gave them a king James then using that same bible we explained the entire plan of salvation with complete doctrine. They didn't have many doubts because we answered all of their questions, so I was very excited. We bore solemn testimony and continued to promise them that all of this evidence is worth nothing unless we have confirmation from God. So we invited them again to pray and we are hoping that they will humble themselves and do so in order for them to receive an answer. So in reality we are continuing to do all that we know how and trusting in the Lord. The other 8 families we are teaching have yet to come to church, but once they do you will all know. When we have all of the toughest afflictions is when we need to put all of our confidence in the Lord in order to strengthen our faith.
So this week we started off playing soccer as a zone and then buying breakfast food. Elder Vander Merwe and I made tons of different breakfast foods. We even made biscuits and gravy and o geeze was it tasty. This week we taught a lot of lessons and got a lot of stuff done. We are putting together a branch mission plan so we can better train the members to share their testimonies so that they will be able to give us more references, And so that those references will have friends that are members of the branch. Its something I did in my old area in Lima and worked well after a little bit of time. So we are exited to see if it will work well here. Also we are starting to open up a new area about ten kilometers from the edge of our area so we have planned to go this weekend with all the elders of the zone and a few of the members in order to help this area get opened that we might be able to get some new members in the seats. The elders from the other branch had a baptism this last week. We brought Nils to the baptism and he seemed to really enjoy it. We haven’t had time to visit him this week with his schedule, but we are hoping that he has made a decision and that we can get him wet. We have two baptismal dates for the ninth of February. One is a 12 year old boy whose name is Brayan. His stepfather doesn't want anything to do with the church and his mother came with him to church yesterday, but they are not married so that will be an obstacle for them so we will baptize the son and see what happens. Also we are going to baptize Pablo who is 19, and who is a son of a sister in the branch who lives in the other branch, but who comes to our branch who I started teaching with Elder Castro 6 months ago. I gave the reference to the other elders who then gave it back because he wants to attend our branch. So he will most likely get baptized as well. The Salazar family only needs to accept a date and they can get wet too. We taught the Suarez family the plan of salvation with only scriptures being that William is a judge and also a lawyer he likes to know the facts. So we explained to him why we need to read a bible that is translated correctly and we gave them a king James then using that same bible we explained the entire plan of salvation with complete doctrine. They didn't have many doubts because we answered all of their questions, so I was very excited. We bore solemn testimony and continued to promise them that all of this evidence is worth nothing unless we have confirmation from God. So we invited them again to pray and we are hoping that they will humble themselves and do so in order for them to receive an answer. So in reality we are continuing to do all that we know how and trusting in the Lord. The other 8 families we are teaching have yet to come to church, but once they do you will all know. When we have all of the toughest afflictions is when we need to put all of our confidence in the Lord in order to strengthen our faith.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
WATERFALLS
January 21, 2013
Hey everybody well we finally got to go see some waterfalls so that was a fun trip you know getting on the edge of a giant waterfall remembering all of the wonderful times I've cliff dived in lake Powell with such a desire to throw a giant back flip off the rock. Then watching a 15 year-old Peruvian jump in. I understand a bit how Jesus felt when Satan tempted him on the top of the temple in Jerusalem, ha-ha well not really that tempted. But anyways we went to Tarapoto on Wednesday to have our interviews with the president. Pres and I had a great long talk about my branch and all the progress we have accomplished. I expressed a concern I had to him about the next change as it will fall right before the weddings we are planning. I told him I was willing to stay in the area even if that meant one more change with Bustos and for sure at least one change after in order to teach the next missionary the area. So I might be having a nice 9 months here but we will see how these families progress. We are teaching tons of families. Angel and Delicia Chavez are trying to get married so Delica can get baptized, but are having couple problems. Manuel and Maria Atocha and their daughter Katty are trying to get married and baptized, but through family problems are not and they haven't come to church. The Salazar family comes to church all 5 of them, but they have yet to accept a baptismal date. They don’t understand that it is an act of faith not perfect knowledge. Lee and Marlene Mendoza are super Catholic, but are so very great they are still deciding if they want to continue receiving the lessons or continue being Catholic. We couldn't find them this week. The Suarez family is a complete family as well with three kids that are amazing, but at the same time don’t want to accept many things for their catholic roots. They are very great and are reading the book of Mormon but aren't praying or coming to church. The hardest obstacle is that the people just simply do not come to church and we cannot baptize anyone if they do not come to church. It is impossible. So more than that we have been teaching real well. I had a lesson with my zone leader and I was all like I’m going to show you up dog so I just killed the lessons that day and we taught the Atocha family and we talked all about forgiveness and repentance because that’s all they do is blame everything on each other. That’s why they don’t want to get married so we had a little family intervention and they all said sorry and that was real great. We were like, "ya going to come to church tomorrow" and they were like yea and then they didn’t come so yea fuiste entonces. We went to Yantaló on Saturday, it is a little pueblo that is like 10 km from the edge of our area. It was sweet we knocked two doors and found two complete families we are planning on setting aside more time for that area. All is well here not much to say still hoping for a miracle baptism. Love you all.
I'm trying a new way to send photos hopefully it works.
Apparently it did not work because there were no photos :(
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Hey everybody well we finally got to go see some waterfalls so that was a fun trip you know getting on the edge of a giant waterfall remembering all of the wonderful times I've cliff dived in lake Powell with such a desire to throw a giant back flip off the rock. Then watching a 15 year-old Peruvian jump in. I understand a bit how Jesus felt when Satan tempted him on the top of the temple in Jerusalem, ha-ha well not really that tempted. But anyways we went to Tarapoto on Wednesday to have our interviews with the president. Pres and I had a great long talk about my branch and all the progress we have accomplished. I expressed a concern I had to him about the next change as it will fall right before the weddings we are planning. I told him I was willing to stay in the area even if that meant one more change with Bustos and for sure at least one change after in order to teach the next missionary the area. So I might be having a nice 9 months here but we will see how these families progress. We are teaching tons of families. Angel and Delicia Chavez are trying to get married so Delica can get baptized, but are having couple problems. Manuel and Maria Atocha and their daughter Katty are trying to get married and baptized, but through family problems are not and they haven't come to church. The Salazar family comes to church all 5 of them, but they have yet to accept a baptismal date. They don’t understand that it is an act of faith not perfect knowledge. Lee and Marlene Mendoza are super Catholic, but are so very great they are still deciding if they want to continue receiving the lessons or continue being Catholic. We couldn't find them this week. The Suarez family is a complete family as well with three kids that are amazing, but at the same time don’t want to accept many things for their catholic roots. They are very great and are reading the book of Mormon but aren't praying or coming to church. The hardest obstacle is that the people just simply do not come to church and we cannot baptize anyone if they do not come to church. It is impossible. So more than that we have been teaching real well. I had a lesson with my zone leader and I was all like I’m going to show you up dog so I just killed the lessons that day and we taught the Atocha family and we talked all about forgiveness and repentance because that’s all they do is blame everything on each other. That’s why they don’t want to get married so we had a little family intervention and they all said sorry and that was real great. We were like, "ya going to come to church tomorrow" and they were like yea and then they didn’t come so yea fuiste entonces. We went to Yantaló on Saturday, it is a little pueblo that is like 10 km from the edge of our area. It was sweet we knocked two doors and found two complete families we are planning on setting aside more time for that area. All is well here not much to say still hoping for a miracle baptism. Love you all.
I'm trying a new way to send photos hopefully it works.
Apparently it did not work because there were no photos :(
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ORCHID IN MOYOBAMBA
January 14, 2013
Changes. Well on Monday we just kind of hung out. Me, Brown, Anderson and our companions all bought a big rotisserie chicken and a bunch of French fries and had a nice little lunch. The new elders got here on Tuesday and the zone leaders on Thursday. Our new zone leader is Elder Vandemerwe, he is from Logan and knows Collin Reeder so that's cool. Any who this week Elder Bustos and I realized that we are teaching so very many families and none of them are progressing so we focused this week in teaching more with the members, but man is it hard for people to make time. We don’t have any baptismal dates right now, but a family did come to church yesterday that was the last family we expected to come. So we will see if we can baptize them this end of the month. We are preparing 2 maybe 3 families to get married here in February and the ward as well are preparing 2 so we are going to have a big old wedding. But the catch is because it’s a new year and there are so many elders coming in the mission, this change is a week shorter than the others. And the giant wedding in the municipality is the 14 of Feb… and the new changes will be the 12 of February. So we will just have to see. Anyways we had a great ward council yesterday and the auxiliary leaders are very excited to help us with all of the families and to give us more references. It has taken a very long time but this branch is progressing a lot. I just hope I’m here to see them become a ward.
Anyways don’t have much to say so, love you all, the church is true.
o yea my pension went to Lima so my companion and I are eating pineapples for 50 cents and cereal everyday so that's cool. Also I found a orchid so mom should like that.
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Changes. Well on Monday we just kind of hung out. Me, Brown, Anderson and our companions all bought a big rotisserie chicken and a bunch of French fries and had a nice little lunch. The new elders got here on Tuesday and the zone leaders on Thursday. Our new zone leader is Elder Vandemerwe, he is from Logan and knows Collin Reeder so that's cool. Any who this week Elder Bustos and I realized that we are teaching so very many families and none of them are progressing so we focused this week in teaching more with the members, but man is it hard for people to make time. We don’t have any baptismal dates right now, but a family did come to church yesterday that was the last family we expected to come. So we will see if we can baptize them this end of the month. We are preparing 2 maybe 3 families to get married here in February and the ward as well are preparing 2 so we are going to have a big old wedding. But the catch is because it’s a new year and there are so many elders coming in the mission, this change is a week shorter than the others. And the giant wedding in the municipality is the 14 of Feb… and the new changes will be the 12 of February. So we will just have to see. Anyways we had a great ward council yesterday and the auxiliary leaders are very excited to help us with all of the families and to give us more references. It has taken a very long time but this branch is progressing a lot. I just hope I’m here to see them become a ward.
Anyways don’t have much to say so, love you all, the church is true.
o yea my pension went to Lima so my companion and I are eating pineapples for 50 cents and cereal everyday so that's cool. Also I found a orchid so mom should like that.
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BIRTHDAY CAKE!
January 7, 2013
Well everybody I ain't going no where, Elder Bustos and I are staying together for another change and I think it is exactly what I needed. We are right on the edge of having a lot of success. We have so many families that we are teaching and this week I pretty much told everyone goodbye so that will be awkward this next week haha. Anyways yesterday we had more people in the church than ever before and there were a lot of great testimonies that were borne. Brown and Anderson and I will be together for a little bit longer so I'm not complaining I am excited to get to work. I don't have much to say I'm sorry I'm just really excited that I will have a little bit more time to help this area. My birthday was cool. Brown gave me a machete. I love you all.
Oh by the way, I lent my baptism tie to another elder and we don't know who has it because he is who knows where, so I am without a tie. So keep that in mind. Also Elder Brown wanted me to ask if you guys are planning on picking me up at the end of my mission, because Brown's parents are. They were thinking it would be cool to all visit together, but whatever. That's in like a year just, something to think about.
I'll write more next week. ciao!
Well everybody I ain't going no where, Elder Bustos and I are staying together for another change and I think it is exactly what I needed. We are right on the edge of having a lot of success. We have so many families that we are teaching and this week I pretty much told everyone goodbye so that will be awkward this next week haha. Anyways yesterday we had more people in the church than ever before and there were a lot of great testimonies that were borne. Brown and Anderson and I will be together for a little bit longer so I'm not complaining I am excited to get to work. I don't have much to say I'm sorry I'm just really excited that I will have a little bit more time to help this area. My birthday was cool. Brown gave me a machete. I love you all.
Oh by the way, I lent my baptism tie to another elder and we don't know who has it because he is who knows where, so I am without a tie. So keep that in mind. Also Elder Brown wanted me to ask if you guys are planning on picking me up at the end of my mission, because Brown's parents are. They were thinking it would be cool to all visit together, but whatever. That's in like a year just, something to think about.
I'll write more next week. ciao!
Sunday, June 2, 2013
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SY!
December 31, 2012
Merry Christmas! Happy new year!
Well as I already told you on Skype we had a great old dinner Christmas eve so while you were eating delicious crab meat i was eating stake and brauts with potato salad and coca-cola. So it wasn't that bad of a Christmas haha. Any who Skype was great it seemed as if I had never left, I hope that Bain's fears of a robot brother coming home that she is unfamiliar with are now extinguished. I warned my companion about all of you and he finally understood what I meant. You are all exactly the same except Bree's finger is a bit heavier. As we worked this week we fasted with our investigator Nils, in order for him to receive his answer from his prayers. And through that fast he came to the conclusion that he is not yet ready for baptism. Which rocked me to my soul. Never have I had an investigator so ready and so exited to learn, with so many questions. But, I know that the Lord heard our prayers. We fasted and did all that we could so if it is the Lord's will I can do nothing more than all that I could give. I just hope and pray that Nils will continue with this excitement to learn. He did come to church this week so that was a great thing. But it still is hard to know that all of our 7 dates fell and that my good buddy Bustos and I will have our second change together without a baptism. I feel like I was put into this zone and this area because the President trusted me. In a zone 3 hours from the nearest airport. Where every area is a 45 minute drive away. Where there hasn't been consistent baptisms for a year. And where the branch is dying slowly. And in these 4 and a half months here I don't think the branch had progressed that much. I baptized 2 in my first change and both are less active. I know the Lord loves me and loves these people and will bless them through their faith and diligence. I am just jealous for the missionaries that will receive all those fruits.
Mosiah 23: 21-22
The lord gives us trials to test our patience and faith. If we trust in him we will be lifted up. There is a reason the first principle of the Gospel is faith. Because with out faith nothing can be done.
I have my fingers crossed I don't get changed I have lots of unfinished business here. Love you all I'll see your faces on mothers day.
Talk to you next year!
Merry Christmas! Happy new year!
Well as I already told you on Skype we had a great old dinner Christmas eve so while you were eating delicious crab meat i was eating stake and brauts with potato salad and coca-cola. So it wasn't that bad of a Christmas haha. Any who Skype was great it seemed as if I had never left, I hope that Bain's fears of a robot brother coming home that she is unfamiliar with are now extinguished. I warned my companion about all of you and he finally understood what I meant. You are all exactly the same except Bree's finger is a bit heavier. As we worked this week we fasted with our investigator Nils, in order for him to receive his answer from his prayers. And through that fast he came to the conclusion that he is not yet ready for baptism. Which rocked me to my soul. Never have I had an investigator so ready and so exited to learn, with so many questions. But, I know that the Lord heard our prayers. We fasted and did all that we could so if it is the Lord's will I can do nothing more than all that I could give. I just hope and pray that Nils will continue with this excitement to learn. He did come to church this week so that was a great thing. But it still is hard to know that all of our 7 dates fell and that my good buddy Bustos and I will have our second change together without a baptism. I feel like I was put into this zone and this area because the President trusted me. In a zone 3 hours from the nearest airport. Where every area is a 45 minute drive away. Where there hasn't been consistent baptisms for a year. And where the branch is dying slowly. And in these 4 and a half months here I don't think the branch had progressed that much. I baptized 2 in my first change and both are less active. I know the Lord loves me and loves these people and will bless them through their faith and diligence. I am just jealous for the missionaries that will receive all those fruits.
Mosiah 23: 21-22
The lord gives us trials to test our patience and faith. If we trust in him we will be lifted up. There is a reason the first principle of the Gospel is faith. Because with out faith nothing can be done.
I have my fingers crossed I don't get changed I have lots of unfinished business here. Love you all I'll see your faces on mothers day.
Talk to you next year!
This is a nativity scene that the people display in their homes at Christmas!
SKYPE SESSION WITH SY ON CHRISTMAS
December 25, 2012
We got to Skype with Sy on Christmas Day...best present ever. Brandon called during the call and was able to join in a 3-way conversation with Sy. So cool!!!
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We got to Skype with Sy on Christmas Day...best present ever. Brandon called during the call and was able to join in a 3-way conversation with Sy. So cool!!!
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PHOTOS OF MOYOBAMBA
These are some photos of Moyobamba that President Blunck posted on his mission blog.
TARAPOTO FOR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
December 17, 2013
Hey everybody! Well on Monday we just played soccer so that wasn't too exciting. On Tuesday we had a great training on how to commit our investigators more in order for them to try their faith. On Wednesday we went on another three hours van ride to Tarapoto for the Christmas celebration. We got there at about 6 or so and we sang happy birthday to the elders that will have birthdays in December and gave our gifts and sang songs and played jeopardy and we slept with the elders from Tarapoto. The next day had a great training about how to use all of our missionary tools. And also how to just get more baptisms because we are so very close to reaching the goal as a mission for baptisms. We need only about 150 more, but the was about a week ago and we alone baptized in our zone like 6 on Saturday. So if the toughest zone can baptize a ton then I think we will get the goal. We then ate dinner with President and the zones, which was delicious chicken cordon bleu. Then elder Brown and I, who happened to be sitting by each other like always, received two packages each. And no other elder did. A few other gringos got little packages and man did we feel bad. I don’t know what the assistants were thinking passing out the packages in front of all of the elders, but let’s just say there were a lot of glares and Brown and I felt pretty bad. But anyway you know I didn't wait until Christmas to open my presents. I got a sweet package from the ward with a sweet hand-cut Christmas tree note. And goodies and really expensive looking leather bound Jesus the Christ, which I cherish. And then I opened the well awaited Christmas present from the family which was full of letters and pictures and all sorts of random awesome toys and treats which I enjoyed a lot. After all the fun we had to go and do an interview for the baptism on Saturday, but Hermana Clara decided that she emotionally isn't ready to be baptized. So that was a downer so we are just trying real hard to baptize Nils this week. We fast all the time and are always praying but when all is said and done the people still have agency. We are only here to invite people to come to Christ, not drag them. So we have faith in the Lord. It was great talking to dad and the short time I got to talk and hear my sister’s voices even though right at the golden moment the signal turned bad. But that’s fine. The world isn't going to end on Friday so I'll talk to you guys on Tuesday and Bain can tell me all the funny things she wants. Any who we thank you guys for your prayers they help a lot with the little things that pass on a daily basis. Just remember the meaning of Christmas think of what Jesus would be doing at this moment… probably giving someone a real big hug... so just give more hugs yea chevère
Peace sees you on Christmas-
O also we are changing P-day to Tuesday this next week for Christmas so I will not be writing a letter this next week…
Hey everybody! Well on Monday we just played soccer so that wasn't too exciting. On Tuesday we had a great training on how to commit our investigators more in order for them to try their faith. On Wednesday we went on another three hours van ride to Tarapoto for the Christmas celebration. We got there at about 6 or so and we sang happy birthday to the elders that will have birthdays in December and gave our gifts and sang songs and played jeopardy and we slept with the elders from Tarapoto. The next day had a great training about how to use all of our missionary tools. And also how to just get more baptisms because we are so very close to reaching the goal as a mission for baptisms. We need only about 150 more, but the was about a week ago and we alone baptized in our zone like 6 on Saturday. So if the toughest zone can baptize a ton then I think we will get the goal. We then ate dinner with President and the zones, which was delicious chicken cordon bleu. Then elder Brown and I, who happened to be sitting by each other like always, received two packages each. And no other elder did. A few other gringos got little packages and man did we feel bad. I don’t know what the assistants were thinking passing out the packages in front of all of the elders, but let’s just say there were a lot of glares and Brown and I felt pretty bad. But anyway you know I didn't wait until Christmas to open my presents. I got a sweet package from the ward with a sweet hand-cut Christmas tree note. And goodies and really expensive looking leather bound Jesus the Christ, which I cherish. And then I opened the well awaited Christmas present from the family which was full of letters and pictures and all sorts of random awesome toys and treats which I enjoyed a lot. After all the fun we had to go and do an interview for the baptism on Saturday, but Hermana Clara decided that she emotionally isn't ready to be baptized. So that was a downer so we are just trying real hard to baptize Nils this week. We fast all the time and are always praying but when all is said and done the people still have agency. We are only here to invite people to come to Christ, not drag them. So we have faith in the Lord. It was great talking to dad and the short time I got to talk and hear my sister’s voices even though right at the golden moment the signal turned bad. But that’s fine. The world isn't going to end on Friday so I'll talk to you guys on Tuesday and Bain can tell me all the funny things she wants. Any who we thank you guys for your prayers they help a lot with the little things that pass on a daily basis. Just remember the meaning of Christmas think of what Jesus would be doing at this moment… probably giving someone a real big hug... so just give more hugs yea chevère
Peace sees you on Christmas-
O also we are changing P-day to Tuesday this next week for Christmas so I will not be writing a letter this next week…
ANOTHER CAVE
December 10, 2013
This week we went to another cave!!! It was cooler than the other cave we went to a month or two back, well until we got lost. Elder Brown and I were just having a really great time when our guide took us down a wrong path and we were then lost for a good three hours… lets just say that we were the last group of missionaries that will be going on cave tours for a good few years hahah. Tuesday we just had a normal day nothing really happened we taught a ton this week, but with little success. Our two baptisms are for this Saturday the 15th and one went out of town for business this weekend. And we can't get a hold of Nils. So we are praying hard for miracles. We are also hoping that maybe by some means we can baptize a family of 4 on the 29th. So lets just say that right now we are focusing a lot on trusting the Lord.
I can't translate scriptures into English very well, so I will just write it in Spanish and you can look it up haha
Alma 5:45-46 ( y esto no es todo ¿no suponéis que sé de estas cosas yo mismo? He aquí, os testifico que yo sé que estas cosas de que he hablado son verdaderas. Y ¿cómo suponéis que yo sé de su certeza?)( he aquí , os diso que el santo espiritu de dios me las hace saber. He aquí, he ayunado y orado muchas dias para poder saber estas cosas por mi mismo y ahora sé por mi mismo. Y ahora sé por mi mismo que son verdaderas; porque el señor dios me las manifestado por su santo espitiru; y este es el espiritu de revelacion que esta en mi.)
I have fasted and prayed many times for my own conversion and also for the conversion of others. I have trust in the Lord, I know he completes his promises. I will do all I can in order to baptize these people and if it is His will then it will be done, because I have trust in him.
I gave a boss awesome talk in church and burned all the members with pure doctrine and I think they all are going to start helping a bit more if they want the blessings promised in the scriptures. O yea we got the shirts done I had to re-draw the picture so it isn't exactly as the one I sent, but nonetheless they came out very very cool. I and very happy with the design and so is the zone.
The weather is nice, but it has been raining a ton this week and everyone seems to disappear when it rains..
I will be calling Friday at 6, well six in Peru so you need to figure out that time there, haha. I will call dad's cell and if not I'll call the home phone. So get ready ya so we can coordinate the Christmas call
There is another picture of the shirt, but it didnt load maybe ill be able to send it next week
love you all
This week we went to another cave!!! It was cooler than the other cave we went to a month or two back, well until we got lost. Elder Brown and I were just having a really great time when our guide took us down a wrong path and we were then lost for a good three hours… lets just say that we were the last group of missionaries that will be going on cave tours for a good few years hahah. Tuesday we just had a normal day nothing really happened we taught a ton this week, but with little success. Our two baptisms are for this Saturday the 15th and one went out of town for business this weekend. And we can't get a hold of Nils. So we are praying hard for miracles. We are also hoping that maybe by some means we can baptize a family of 4 on the 29th. So lets just say that right now we are focusing a lot on trusting the Lord.
I can't translate scriptures into English very well, so I will just write it in Spanish and you can look it up haha
Alma 5:45-46 ( y esto no es todo ¿no suponéis que sé de estas cosas yo mismo? He aquí, os testifico que yo sé que estas cosas de que he hablado son verdaderas. Y ¿cómo suponéis que yo sé de su certeza?)( he aquí , os diso que el santo espiritu de dios me las hace saber. He aquí, he ayunado y orado muchas dias para poder saber estas cosas por mi mismo y ahora sé por mi mismo. Y ahora sé por mi mismo que son verdaderas; porque el señor dios me las manifestado por su santo espitiru; y este es el espiritu de revelacion que esta en mi.)
I have fasted and prayed many times for my own conversion and also for the conversion of others. I have trust in the Lord, I know he completes his promises. I will do all I can in order to baptize these people and if it is His will then it will be done, because I have trust in him.
I gave a boss awesome talk in church and burned all the members with pure doctrine and I think they all are going to start helping a bit more if they want the blessings promised in the scriptures. O yea we got the shirts done I had to re-draw the picture so it isn't exactly as the one I sent, but nonetheless they came out very very cool. I and very happy with the design and so is the zone.
The weather is nice, but it has been raining a ton this week and everyone seems to disappear when it rains..
I will be calling Friday at 6, well six in Peru so you need to figure out that time there, haha. I will call dad's cell and if not I'll call the home phone. So get ready ya so we can coordinate the Christmas call
There is another picture of the shirt, but it didnt load maybe ill be able to send it next week
love you all
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